9.00-09.15: Opening remarks by Anja Wollenberg, Head of Research and Development, MiCT

9.15 – 10.15: Keynote by Katrin Voltmer, Professor of Communication and Democracy at University of Leeds and Principal Investigator MeCoDEM

10.15 – 10.30 Break

10.30 -12.30: Challenges of media development assistance in fragile statesFacilitator: Anja Wollenberg, Head of Research and Development, MiCT

The majority of conflict countries today are to some degree fragile countries. Polarised media structures are suspected to deepen conflict lines, and media development assistance is hence requested to favor stability over traditional values such as pluralism and diversity. Based on examples and case studies, this session will discuss indicators and criteria, look at the role of education and media literacy and question normative orders of working in fragile states.

Speakers: Jad Melki, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Lebanese American University (LAU)Carola Richter, Associate Professor for International Communication at Free University BerlinHanan Badr, Post-Doc Researcher at Freie Universität BerlinJames Deane, Director of Policy and Learning at BBC Media Action

In the aftermath of brutal civil wars, justice and reconciliation processes play a crucial role in helping societies deal with the legacy of mass human rights violations. Media is an important actor in this process, as well as a subject that requires reform itself. This session discusses competing values such as freedom of expression and promotion of reconciliation and addresses major achievement and challenges of media development work in reconciliation and transitional justice processes.

The need for accurate and timely information is the more pressing in times of conflict, when the deliberate placement of information is part of a combat strategy. Focusing on the internet as a source, this session explores the parameters for journalistic work in information verification, open source intelligence and real-time data mining with examples from Germany and Ukraine. Given the drastic increase of possibilities for surveillance, strategies for protection of endangered journalists and the media development community itself are also discussed.

The impact of media support is always a crucial question. Measuring impacts in conflict contexts is perceived as especially challenging due to their fast-changing nature. This session aims at exchanging views on latest developments on how to measure impact of media projects on peace processes or generally in conflict environments: What are good examples? What lessons can be learnt for future impact evaluation? How important is the justification of projects by measuring impact in donor practice?

13.30 – 15.00: Facing ethical dilemmas: Journalists and media development actors in conflict societiesFacilitator: Jan Lublinski, Head of Research and Evaluation, DW Akademie

Ethics form a vital component of journalism as a profession. During conflict coverage the values and guiding principles that journalists apply are of key importance. Based on latest findings from the international research project “Media, Conflict and Democratisation” (MeCoDEM), this session will evaluate ethical dilemmas that journalists face in conflict environments, address the issue of traumatisation and discuss new approaches for media development work in this field.

Speakers: Ines Drefs, Research Associate MeCoDEM, Hamburg UniversityGamal Soltan, Associate Professor at the American University of Cairo and Research Associate MeCoDEMAltaf Khan, Head of Journalistic Department at University of Peshawar and Co-founder of the Competence and Trauma Center for Journalists (CTCJ)

Journalists and media workers are increasingly subject to deliberate violence and imprisonment. This is indicative of the failure of the initiatives so far taken to protect media personnel – such as various UN resolutions on the safety of journalists. The session evaluates the UN action plan of safety of journalists and the role of the „Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the Safety of Journalists“, analyses the role of media development organisations and media companies for protecting journalists in fragile and failing states and discusses political obstacles against strengthening international safety mechanisms.